Doing Delhi

Well, I’ve finally made it. After an indulgent couple of days in Hong Kong, we (my friend Chesa and I) have arrived in Delhi, India.

Last time I was in Hong Kong, I was unimpressed. I had been living in Taibei for the summer, and Hong Kong only seemed to offer less. There was less space, less integration with Japanese culture, less language I could understand (well, with the exception of all the English). But this time I was in awe. This time it was more, more, more! I had come to the realization the other month that I had not left Kunming or its environs since I arrived in late August. I hadn’t even been out in the countryside until just a few weeks ago. And so, coming from a familiar Kunming with its RELATIVELY sparse amenities (ok, so we still have a Pizza Hut and a McDonalds or two) to abundant Hong Kong was liberating. I sat in Starbucks reading the International Herald Tribune (my God, a REAL newspaper!). I nibbled on a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cone as I raced down to the MRT to be shuttled off the island and over to Kowloon. I went to an art museum full of contemporary art. I went to conveyor-belt sushi!

Unfortunately, the respite built my hopes of for India. I’m afraid my overly simplistic logic went something like: Hong Kong belonged to the British, India belonged to the British, so same same but different. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I’ve only been here for nine hours, so I can’t say I have really had a chance to make solid inquiries yet, but I do have first impressions. From what I can tell, Delhi is roughly on par with Kunming in terms of development—I was taken aback. I was expecting Beijing, Delhi being the capital and all, but I got Kunming. But that’s only in terms of development. I didn’t think that it was possible to get crazier than China in terms of crowds, and yet the Indians seem to have managed it. I’m used to having a personal bubble of roughly 5 cm in China…I think the Indians give about 2 cm at best! We shall see though, perhaps I will get accustomed quickly.

I’m frankly already looking forward to getting out of Delhi (sometimes you just have vibes), but we still have some exploring to do. But first, we must recover from the ever-so-minor jet lag!

I’ll probably mention this again later, but for those of you interested in what will likely be a more detailed account of our travels here in India, I highly recommend checking out Chesa’s blog!